About Cynthia

I spent most of my life becoming who other people needed me to be.

 

Born in Japan, raised across Korea and Canada, I grew up learning how to read rooms before I ever learned how to read myself. I was good at it — adapting, performing, fitting in. For a long time I thought that was my strength.

 

I built a startup from nothing and scaled it to seven-figure revenue. I joined TikTok/ByteDance and led marketing across 11 countries in APAC and the Middle East. I was hungry, ambitious, and sure I was on my way.

 

Then I got humbled. I was let go from a job that nearly defined me. And it didn’t stop there — friendships, relationships, environments I’d built my life around — everything that no longer fit had to go.

 

What came after was unexpected. I stopped looking outward and started looking in. And what I found inside changed everything. The right people, work, and life started showing up once I stopped holding onto what wasn’t mine.

 

That’s what I teach now. Not theory. Not a framework I learned from a book. A practice I built from lived experience — from every mistake, every loss, and every moment I chose myself even when it cost me.